1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of semiconductor manufacturing. More specifically, the present invention relates to process chamber lid open equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
During chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processing, reactive gases released inside a process chamber form layers, such as silicon oxides or nitrides, on the surface of a substrate being processed. During this process, oxide/nitride deposition occurs elsewhere in the CVD apparatus. The oxide/nitride residue has a deleterious effect on the CVD process if the CVD apparatus is not periodically cleaned. To avoid these deleterious effects, periodic cleaning procedures are undertaken to remove the oxide/nitride residue every N wafers/substrates, where N is an integer.
The cleaning procedures, however, result in periodic down-time for the CVD system, thereby reducing the system throughput. To reduce the total down-time of the CVD system, two types of cleaning techniques are employed: a gas-clean technique and a wet-clean technique. During a gas-clean technique, a cleaning gas, such as oxygen, NF.sub.3, helium and/or nitrogen, is flowed into the process chamber to remove oxide residue present therein. The gas-clean technique is achieved without breaking the vacuum seal of the process chamber, the seal being formed when a lid associated with the process chamber is in a closed position. This technique minimizes the amount of down-time necessary to perform the cleaning procedure. The gas-clean technique is unable to remove a portion of the oxide residue present in the CVD system, necessitating a periodic wet-clean technique. During a wet-clean technique, the vacuum seal of the process chamber is broken by moving the chamber lid to an open position. A user physically wipes down the chamber using chemical cleaners. Thus, the wet-clean technique is substantially more time-consuming than the gas-clean technique, thereby increasing the down-time of the CVD system.
The prior art is deficient in the lack of a CVD system which may reduce the time required for wet-cleaning. Specifically, the prior art is deficient in the lack of integration of lid open equipment at each CVD process chamber, which is capable of moving the process chamber lid up/down (open/close condition) and rotating the lid 180 degrees. The present invention fulfills this long-standing need and desire in the art.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided is a lid assembly for a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process chamber, comprising a moveable lid, two linear guide rollers, one or more linear lifting actuators, and a rotation actuator. Optionally, the lid assembly may comprise one or more gas springs to support the weight of the lid. The two linear guide rollers are parallel to each other and both are connected to the lid, one on each end of the axis of the lid. The linear lifting actuators move the lid up and down along the linear guide rollers, while the rotation actuator is connected to the axis of the lid and rotates the lid once the lid is lifted to an upper limit. This lid assembly may be used for opening/closing process chamber in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided is a method of wet-cleaning the process chamber in a chemical vapor deposition procedure. This method comprises the steps of (1) lifting the process chamber lid up by linear lifting actuators; (2) rotating the lid 180 degrees on the axis by a rotation actuator; (3) lowering the lid to below the process chamber, thereby breaking the vacuum seal of the process chamber; and (4) wiping down the chamber using chemical cleaners. During step (1), the lid is moved along linear guide rollers, which are connected to the axis of the lid.
Other and further aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the embodiments of the invention given for the purpose of disclosure.